Meet the New Principal of Tech High

It’s a rare day when Bruce Mims, Technology High’s new principal, isn’t dressed to the nines: suit, tie, shined shoes and all.

It was that image — what he calls “suited and booted” that propelled the marathon runner from Pasadena, Calif. to get into teaching. He was already 30, and was about to begin what he calls his “third life.”

Mims walked into Kearny High School in San Diego for his first teaching gig. It was 1995 or 1996. The school was comprised predominantly of minority and poor kids. 

“The first day I showed up at Kearny High, the kids were transfixed on me; they were all very quiet,” said Mims, who was there for his student teaching. “It was the lowest of low-performing schools, and the kids were in the highest of high poverty.” 

“Well, I finally asked one of them ‘why do I have 30 sets of eyeballs following me wherever I go?’” Mims said. “This little African American boy said it was the first time he’d ever seen an African American male that wasn’t in jail. That grabbed me. That’s why I tell people education found me.”

Mims, sitting in his office at Technology High School, on the Sonoma State University campus on a recent day, choked back a tear or two remembering his early days.

“I didn’t really understand how powerful role models were,” he said. “If my presence in that setting was so powerful to a young person, then who am I to say I’m only here to do it for myself?”

Mims, now 45, was recruited by the University of San Diego to get his Master’s Degree in teaching because there was a critical shortage of African American male educators when he got started in 1995. He spent the next 15 years teaching history to incarcerated juvenile offenders in locked-down facility in a San Diego border town, he helped start a technology high school for at-risk youth on probation also in San Diego and he was a teacher at a high-profile sports academy where he was in charge of bringing inner-city kids to the school's tennis center. 

“That was a tall order,” said Stacey Nickson, who first worked with Mims at the sports academy. “You’re talking about a tennis culture from a very high socioeconomic class in San Diego where the people have absolutely no exposure to inner-city youth, especially those who are gang-involved or have other social ills. But he did it.”

“By the time Dr. Mims left the kids were fully accepted in that environment,” she said. 

After the tennis academy, Nickson, now the assistant director for the Biggio Center for the enhancement of teaching and learning at Auburn University in Alabama, recruited Mims to start the South Bay Technology Academy with her. The technology academy enlisted at-risk kids on probation between the ages of 14-18 to become better students and move on to college.

Mims' success in leadership precipitated the next stage of his teaching career — he went on to become assistant principal and principal at a string of low-performing high schools in both San Diego and Los Angeles.

“My paradigm, my experience, has been fixing low-achieving, low-performing schools,” Mims said. “Schools that are so broken that they were beyond repair.”

But he did turn them around.

Take two schools: Jordan High School in Long Beach and Westchester High School in Los Angeles. Both primarily minority, both extremely low in socioeconomic status. 

When Mims left Westchester — a school with 1,800 kids — last month to take the job at Tech High, he reported the school's API test scores grew nearly 50 percent in 18 months.

“But it’s not just about test scores,” Nickson said. “This is a man who has extremely high expectations. He can take someone from the bottom to the highest level in all areas — attitude, work ethic, expectations for life and test scores.”

“He just knows how to motivate people, both teachers and students,” Nickson said.

Nickson said she had the opportunity to see Mims in action at Jordan High, the high school in Long Beach.

"Those were kids largely from Compton, and he got them to care," she said. "And, what other teacher do you know that would take his kids to run marathons with him."

“Student and teacher achievement went up at every place he's been,” she said. “This is such a gifted, talented, incredible man your community has now.”

Mims said often in life, he's run in to former students. Sometimes in the market, or maybe on a run. And those times, he knows he's made a difference.

"I always tell my students I'll never give you anything that you can't take, turn around and use," he said.

Prior to teaching, the Southern California native received his undergraduate degree in political science at the University of California, Berkeley where he graduated in the top of his class. Shortly after Mims became an officer in the Navy where he was attached to a special warfare unit. That was his first life.

He’s also owned his own personal training business and spent time in commercial and retail banking, when he worked for both Wells Fargo and the California Federal Bank.

Mims was short when asked about his military service. Total, he was in for five years. 

“Lets just say I was in places that are seen but not heard,” he said. “The military is very good at teaching you how to do combat but it’s not very good at teaching you how to live with the consequences.” 

Mims says moving to Northern California is full circle for him, remembering his time at Berkeley fondly. 

“When I joined the Navy, I used to say silently to myself ‘how long is it going to be before I come back up here and settle down,'” Mims said. 

It’s been nearly a month since he moved here, and he says he’s home. 

“This isn’t another stop on my resume,” Mims said. “This is a destination for me, and I really do mean that.”

Mims lives in Petaluma with his partner of 13 years and his two 9-year-old twins. For the man who spent the better part of his life educating young criminals and at-risk youth, Sonoma County’s sleepy suburbs and rolling countryside is a real shock. 

But, Mims said, in many ways he’s noticed the district here is struggling more than the inner city schools he’s used to.

“I’ve already had some moving experiences here in Rohnert Park,” Mims said.

He called it a Robert Kennedy moment.

“I’ve been such an urban guy, and I’ve felt so similar to how Robert Kennedy must have the first time he stepped out of the urban jungle, and took a look at what’s going on in rural America. My awakening has been that I’ve realized there’s a plight that’s going on that people aren’t really aware of.”

Mims clenched the arms of his chair, exposing two bracelets on one wrist. One said "Live Strong," the other read "commitment to graduate." The veins in his hands showed naturally, probably a reflection of his athleticism.

He described one of the first emails he received since arriving in Rohnert Park. Parents of three Tech High kids had sent him a message describing a financial hardship. The family is “really broke” and the kids have to take three buses to get to school. They leave Santa Rosa at 6:45 a.m. 

Could the principal allow them to be a little late?

“Of course I’ll work with them,” Mims said. “That was such a stark illustration for me that shows there are families here that are really struggling.”

“We may not be a large urban district like San Francisco or Oakland, but we still have needs and we still are struggling with resources,” he said. “There are so many politics involved that much of the time funds are sucked up by the large urban districts. The rurals are so spread out that often they have no voice, but these districts are in crisis. I’ve just begun to learn that.” 

As for Tech High, Mims said he’s excited to be a part of such a great school. He handed out the "commitment to graduate" bracelets out to the whole school. It's an ethos of his — one that may sound simple, but is important.

“Being principal of such a high-performing school is a whole different dynamic for me,” he said. “I’m really excited to lend a positive contribution to all the great work that’s going on.”

Mims said he’s excited to collaborate with Sonoma State University, and to work with other schools in the district, the teachers and students.

Mims said after such a turbulent life, he’s looking forward to the simple pleasures: time with his kids, long runs through wine country and working to make Tech High even more of a successful school.

"We have to shine light on the great things we have to offer in this district," Mims said.

“In many ways, I don’t think public education has really caught up with the power of technology,” he added. “You think about all the ways we could engage kids and all the ways we could save money — especially in this day and age of dwindling resources.”

That’s one reason , the new superintendent, recruited Mims to join Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified.

“We were really looking for new ideas,” Haley said. “And he has experience in working with technology high schools and universities.”

“I’m in no hurry,” Mims said. “I’m really looking forward to reconnecting with my children and my partner. I’ve been consumed with turning around low-achieving schools, like Westchester; it’s taken a lot out of me and my family.”

"I think I've come here with a wealth of knowledge and experience and I also come here with an open mind, willing to learn and grow," he said.